Notebook news

Reaching out in print and online

By by Wendy Harris on Nov 21, 2012 01:12 PM

Notebook readers can still find the bimonthly print publication at 750 distribution sites throughout the city, including all District and charter schools. But to increase access to the paper, the Notebook has contracted with the delivery company CCN to set up honor boxes at strategic spots on the streets around town.

The Notebook began working with CCN in August to streamline its distribution process and to better serve all the sites at which the Notebook can be found. In October, the first Notebook honor boxes hit the streets. Each forest-green box is stacked with the latest print edition. They are located at:

• Temple University, corner of 13th and Montgomery Avenue

• 30th and Market Streets, southwest corner

• Olney Transportation Center, 5600 N. Broad St.

• Children’s Hospital, 34th and Spruce Streets

• Philadelphia Inquirer building, 801 Market St.

• Philadelphia Zoo, outside the front entrance.

The Notebook is also pleased to announce renewed support from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation to strengthen its online presence. Thanks to a two-year $202,000 grant through Knight’s Community Information Challenge, the Notebook will be evaluating and revamping its publishing – implementing new digital strategies for reaching parents and other core audiences. This will include producing more multimedia content, expanding its use of social media, and making its content more accessible via mobile devices.

Grantees of the Knight Community Information Challenge gathered in Chicago this fall for a four-day boot camp to develop their workplans and to receive training on resources available to successful community-based publications. The Notebook’s newest staffer, online publishing manager David Limm, participated.

The Notebook is always looking for ways to increase its presence. The support it gets from readers is a big part of what makes that possible. Year-end gifts to the Notebook can help ensure that the small, dedicated staff of the Notebook can continue its important newsgathering and publishing work in 2013. See the form on p. 27 for details.

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